Origin of Popular Lobster Fra Diavolo Bedevils the Experts

By FLORENCE FABRICANT

Published: May 29, 1996

Correction Appended

LOBSTER FRA DIAVOLO, lobster in a spicy tomato sauce with linguine, "brother devil" style, sounds Italian, tastes Italian and is a staple in Italian restaurants. But is it Italian?

"Oh, dear," sighed Anna Teresa Callen, the Italian-born cookbook author and cooking teacher, when asked about it. "It's not an Italian dish. It's really another Italian-American invention. I have never seen it in Italy, and I suspect that it came from Long Island."

Like Mrs. Callen, many authorities on Italian cooking are not on the side of the devil.

Tony May, the owner of San Domenico, who is from Naples, said lobster fra diavolo was not from his hometown. "It's like the lemon peel with the coffee, he continued. "I first heard of it when I came to New York in 1963. I think there was a restaurant in midtown called Fra Diavolo that started it. Or maybe the restaurant was Vesuvio."

Giuliano Bugialli, another cookbook author and cooking teacher, said it was invented in New York. "We don't even have American lobsters in Italy," he added. "And a heavy tomato sauce with hot peppers, seafood and pasta all in one dish is not Italian cooking. I think it came from a restaurant that was near the old Met, around 38th Street and Broadway."

Others trace its origins to Little Italy. Victor Hazan, the wine expert, said he remembered first eating lobster fra diavolo at the Grotta Azzurra restaurant in Little Italy in 1940. His wife, Marcella, the cookbook author and teacher, added: "You brought me to that restaurant. I remember the dish clearly because it was so heavy and typical of Italian cooking in America. We don't eat like that in Italy."

Nancy Verde Barr, the author of "We Called It Macaroni," a book about Italian immigrant cooking, said she knew it was an American invention, probably from Little Italy in New York. "I did not include it in my book because it was restaurant food and never something we made at home," she explained.

But the consensus is far from unanimous. There are those who vouch for the Italian authenticity of the rich, spicy dish.

Take Frank Scognamillo, an owner of Patsy's in midtown. "My father told me it came from Naples," he said. "The Calabresi and Neapolitans love hot sauces, and the recipes are all there. They have been handed down for generations." Not in Tony May's family, but never mind.

Mr. Scognamillo's father, Pasquale, came to New York from Naples in 1923 and opened Patsy's in 1944. Lobster fra diavolo is a favorite of Patsy's regulars like Frank Sinatra, Carroll O'Connor and Neil Sedaka. "But Sinatra wants his with less garlic," Mr. Scognamillo said.

John Mariani, the food writer, whose parents emigrated from Italy, said he found mentions of it in guides to New York restaurants written in the 1930's, but he also remembered his mother's preparing lobster fra diavolo for his father. "I asked her about it, and she said she learned of the dish from him when they were still living in Italy," he noted. His father was from the Abruzzi region.

In the dim blue fluorescent light of the very Grotta Azzurra in Little Italy where Victor Hazan had his first taste of lobster fra diavolo, the dish is as heavy, garlicky and peppery as ever. And though it is not for the fastidious diner, it remains a satisfying dish. "My father told me my grandfather brought the dish from Naples," said Connie Davino, an owner. "They had different lobsters in Naples, but they had a dish like that. We've been serving it as long as I can remember." Or longer. The restaurant was founded in 1908.

Regardless of its provenance and despite its popularity in restaurants, lobster fra diavolo is rarely found in cookbooks. In the section on the cooking of Southern Italy in "La Tavola Italiana" (Morrow, 1988) by Tom Maresca and Diane Darrow, a recipe for spaghetti with mixed seafood comes close. It includes lobster tails and is made with tomatoes and hot red peppers.

In "Cucina Paradiso, the Heavenly Food of Sicily" by Clifford A. Wright (Simon & Schuster, 1992), there is a recipe for a dish called Spaghetti con Aragosta Alla Trapanese that lists saffron among its ingredients but otherwise resembles lobster fra diavolo. Waverley Root also mentions lobster with pasta as a specialty of Trapani in "The Food of Italy" (Random House, 1971).

James Beard called lobster fra diavolo an Italian version of lobster a l'Americaine, a French specialty from Brittany. His recipe, in "American Cookery" (Little, Brown, 1972), calls for flaming the lobster in Cognac and serving it with rice. It is made with tomatoes, onion, garlic, cloves, mace and herbs -- but no hot red pepper. Other recipes for deviled lobster call for a stuffing seasoned with mustard, like deviled eggs.

Though classic lobster fra diavolo, if there is such a thing, is a complicated mess to eat, what with the pieces of lobster in the shell thickly coated with red sauce and served on a bed of pasta, preparing it is a relatively easy task.

Jasper White, the former owner of Jasper's in Boston and now the executive chef for the Boston-based Legal Sea Foods chain, said he did not know where fra diavolo originated, but he included a recipe for it in "Lobster at Home," which will be published this year. His version is served on bread, not pasta. Here is an adaptation using pasta.

Correction: June 5, 1996, Wednesday A recipe for lobster fra diavolo last Wednesday omitted wine from the ingredients. Here is a corrected version: Lobster Fra Diavolo Adapted from "Lobster at Home" by Jasper White (Scribners) Total time: 1 hour 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped fine 1 tablespoon garlic chopped fine 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 cup fish or seafood stock 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 bay leaf 1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes Freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 lobsters, each 1 3/4 pounds, cut up Salt 1 pound linguine 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley leaves. 1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add the onion and garlic, and saute over medium heat until they begin to brown. Stir in the pepper flakes and oregano. Stir in stock, wine, tomato paste and bay leaf. Pour the canned tomatoes into a strainer held over the saucepan so that you add the juice but not the pulp. Chop the pulp; then, add it to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper. Set aside. 2. Heat the remaining oil in a large saute pan. Add lobster pieces, and sear them over high heat, turning often, until the shells are bright red. 3. While the lobster is searing, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the linguine. 4. Spoon the sauce over the lobster, bring to a simmer and cook, partly covered, about 10 minutes. 5. While the lobster is cooking in the sauce, add the linguine to the boiling water, and cook about 7 minutes, until al dente. Drain well. 6. To serve, transfer the lobster pieces coated with sauce to one side of a large platter, leaving some of the sauce in the pan. Sprinkle with half the parsley. 7. Add the drained linguine to the sauce in the pan, and reheat briefly, stirring to coat the linguine. Transfer to the platter alongside the lobster, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve. Yield: 4 servings. Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 770 calories, 20 grams fat, 70 milligrams cholesterol, 805 milligrams sodium, 40 grams protein, 100 grams carbohydrate.